News - MENA

• Personal Data Protection Law is a nationwide data protection law, supporting the development of the digital economy. The law promotes the efficient and secure processing of big data for commercial use and provides guidelines for the effective transfer of data across borders.
• Competition Law facilitates innovation as well as increases productivity and efficiency by introducing legislation to prevent the formation of monopolies or the practice of anti-competitive behaviour. This will make it easier for new businesses to enter existing markets and compete with significant players.
• Bankruptcy Law enables experimentation and innovation by businesses and improves the outcomes of the bankruptcy process for all parties. The law introduces reorganisation, whereby a company’s management is allowed to remain in place and continue business operations during the administration of a case, as in the US Chapter 11 law. The bankruptcy law also includes provisions for cross-border insolvency, and special provisions in relation to the insolvency of SMEs, which provides a higher threshold of protection to those enterprises.
• Health Insurance Law promotes an integrated health system for Bahrain, based on a sustainable financing system that supports and attracts investment in both the healthcare and insurance industries. The Supreme Council of Health has overall responsibility for the rollout of the system and will carry out the necessary activities to regulate the health insurance system. The Government will establish the Health Insurance Fund to assure improved pooling under a new national umbrella and coverage for beneficiaries related to benefits and service provision.